Hebrews 12:14-29

Hebrews 12:14-29

The writer of Hebrews gives us some very practical but demanding advice as to how to live faithfully as a disciple. Certainly the forces of darkness would attempt to draw believing Jews back from Christianity into Judaism. There would also be a second internal attack pushing them to leave their faith. If the first is the magnetic force of attraction, then the second is the magnetic force of repulsion. In verses 14-16 we see the countermeasure for the forces that would push a person out of the church.

A right relationship with man and with God are specifically linked. How can we love God, whom we have never seen, if we hate our fellow man, whom we have seen? We may have difficulty being at peace, but we must make the effort. Within the church, peace is possible unless, as in verse 15, someone is living short of God's grace. The result of which is a root of bitterness. We generally associate this phrase with a personal emotion, but that is too narrow an understanding. Deuteronomy 29:18 is most likely the passage to which this verse refers. The lack of peace and the lack of holiness indicate a person is short on God's grace. Such a person will become a “root of bitterness,” a Hebrewism for a toxic plant within the community. The example of Esau is given. He traded the eternal for the temporal, and later he found that he could not be restored. That character flaw must not appear in the church. This passage is directly about church discipline.

The balance of this chapter is a contrast between the old and the new covenants. There is much that can be said about this contrast presented. But the space available will allow only one note. There are two kinds of awesome. One is the awesomeness of fear, destruction, and terror, not unlike earthquakes, plagues, or tornadoes. Then there is the awesomeness of beauty, creation, newborn infants, and love. This is the sort of contrast the author uses here. The events of Mount Sinai were awesome, but they were more terrifying than attractive. The appeal of the New Covenant is awesome in the beautiful, loving, and gracious way. Certainly Calvary was dark and gruesome, but it was motivated by love and brought us to the awesome new relationship with God. Why turn back from the awesome beauty to the awesome terror?

“Thank you for the grace that can only be described as awesome. AMEN”